Display box



March 9, 1943. J. 'r. WRIGHT I 2,313,694

DISPLAY Box Filed Jan. 2, 1940 A TTORNEYS.

mmvm .loixz 7? W y/2% Patented Mar. 9, 1943 DISPLAY BOX J ohn- T. Wright, West Warren, Mass, assignor to The William E. Wright & Sons Company, a corporation of New Jersey Application January 2, 1940, Serial No. 312,041

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a display package of a character particularly adapted for the display of ruflled material and the invention has for one of its objects to provide a package in which the material is readily visible and one which is attractive in appearance and thus displays the material at an advantage from a sales standpoint.

Another object of the invention is to provide a package which will maintain the material clean and relatively free from dust or dirt or other soil which might come in contact with the material if it were not so protected.

Another object of the invention is to provide a package from which the material may be withdrawn without opening the display package whereby to enable a customer to feel of a material itself should such be desired in making the purchase.

Another object of the inventionis to provide a package which is relatively inexpensive to produce and which may be assembled quickly and with unskilled labor, after the material is placed therein.

Another object of the invention is toso'put up the material'that it will be substantially selfsupporting without the casing about the same.

A further object of the invention is to put up the material in a telescopic manner so that each convolution of a coil will support the next convolutions, etc.,'unti1 the entire assembly of the desired length is produced.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certain novel features of construotion, as will be more fully desired, and particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the package with some of the material to be dispensed extended from an opening in the package.

Fig. 2 is a central sectional view of the outside shellof the package alone.

Fig. 3 is'a perspective view ofthe side walls of the package.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the top end of the package.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the bottom end of the package.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the core upon whichthe material is placed in the package.

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the material wound upon a form which may be later transferred onto the core of Fig. 6. v

Fig. 8 is a short length of the materialsuch as may be utilized in Fig. 7. l

Fig. 9 is a short section of a different rufiie material.

Fig. 10 shows this material wound on a arbor, and

Fig. 11 shows this material withdrawn from the arbor collapsed so that the rufiies telescope one with another to provide a length of material in self-supporting relation.

Ruflle material is diflicult to display. In some instances it is wound on'cards. These cards are laid in boxes which requires that the cover of the box be taken oh and the card lifted out of the box'in order that this ruflle material may be viewed; and again, this rulile material'is easily crushed and care in the packaging of the same must be had. In order that this ruffle material may be packaged in a manner so that it will not be damaged and also so that it may be viewed or even felt of, when desired, I have arranged a package in which the rufile material iswound in a flat coil generally oval shaped with the portions suitable of the ruflie material in telescoping relation,which enables theruffie material in many cases to be self-supporting, a core may be put inside upon which it is wound, and I then envelope the material in a transparent casing, the. side and top walls of which are sufficiently stiff to protect this material and yet may beof such character that the material may be readily viewed. The bottom wall is usually of somewhat heavier material and of a character so that it may be attached without the use of heat or solvent, one material useful being ordinary cardboard, whereby unskilled labor may be used for placing the material which is to be dispensed in the transparent casing and there secured in place. Andthe following is a more detailed description of the present embodimerit of this invention, illustrating the preferred means by which these advantageous results may be accomplished:

With reference to the drawing, I have'illustrated a casing consisting of a body portion III which comprises essentially a side wall of the container formed from a transparentacetate or some similar sheet material wrappedor formulated into substantially the shape of an oval in cross-section, providing opposite side walls ll joined by suitable curved portions I2. This body is generally formed by folding this sheet material into the shape shown and cementing the edges together. The material is somewhat flexible, although sufficiently stiff to be self-supporting.

The upper end of this .casing consists of an end wall M which is generally of the shape of the body and is provided with a flange l5 so that the same will telescope overthe end of the body as at l5 shown in Fig. 2, thisfmaterial.beingalso acetate or similar to that of the body and there being a sufficient contact between the flange l5 and the body so that the same may be readily secured in place by heat or some solvent, thus fixing the end wall to the body in the relationship shown in Fig. 2. An opening I'B or hole is provided in the end wall 14 so that the material which is contained in the package may be withdrawn. The stock about the opening I6 is inclined outwardly as at IE to facilitate withdrawal of the material from the package and for another purpose to be hereinafter pointed out.

The bottom end wall i designated generally l1 and likewise consists of sheet stock generally in the same shape as the end wall l4 and is provided with flanges l8 which will telescope the bottom wall-as illustrated in Fig. 2, at l9. This end wall is provided with openings .20 through which the metal, fingers 2| extend, which fingers are attached as by hollow rivets 22 to the side wall or body H! in such position that they will register with the openings 2i]. These fingers 2| may be folded .as shown in Fig. 2 whereby they extend over a portion of the surface of the end wall ll so as to secure this end wallin position. Any number of these fingers mayibe utilized and in any desired location about the endof the body. I have here illustrated two, although .it will be perfectly evident that more fingers may be provided if de sired. g

The ruffle material 25 is of a type which is gathered as at 26 so that the length of its edge 21 is greater than the length of its edge 26 thereby providing some puckering of shirring of the material because of this .construction. This ruffle is helically wound about an arbor 28 by any suitable winding device .and with the length. of material in somewhat the relation shown in Fig. 10, after'which the material is collapsed so that each convolution 29 will extend into greater overlapping relation with the next convolution as :indicated more clearly in Fig. 11 so that each convolution will support the next convolution and so on into a package which will be substantially self-supporting. The length of the material is of some known definite length, such for instance as twelve yards and the length of the casing will be such that the casing will be substantially filled. After the material is formulated in this manner such as shown in Fig. 11, the material is inserted into the lower end of the casing. It is then a very simple matter for the operator to put on the bottom wall ll causing the fingers 21 to extend throughthe openings in this bottom wall and to then fold over these fingers about the edges of the opening 2.6 also in the bottom wall so that the parts will be firmly held in position and the fingers 2! cannot be moved to released position. I I

The coiled material will be such that it is a simple matter to reach through the opening IS in the top wall and withdraw the material from the casing without otherwise opening the case. The material may be pulled out to the desiredlength and then cut and dispensed in this manner, leaving but a short length of the material exposed in position to be grasped in a subsequent withdrawal of material from the package and which exposed portion is desirable from a sales standpoint as it enables the customer to feel of the material prior to purchasing the same. This short length. of exposed material is prevented from working itself into the package because of its tendency to cling to the raised edge of the flared portion about the opening I 6.

In some cases the rufile material is of a more fragile nature than that illustrated in Figs. 9, 10 and 11 and I hav illustrated in Fig. 8 at '30 a specimen of such more frail material, this being packaged about an arbor 3! similar to that of the package about the arbor 28, but in this case the material is not of sufiicient inherent stability to support itself and therefore, after I have collapsed the coils into telescoping relation as shown at 32, in Fig. '7, I slide the material onto a core designated generally 33 and which consists of a wire form' 34 having upwardly extending doubled back legs 35 which are suitable to receive the coil of rufiie 32 and support the same while it is inserted in the package.

Other shaped coils may be provided, although I have found this to be a very neat and efficient form and one which is inexpensive and may be thrown away with the box when the material is completely withdrawn therefrom. In this case, the material wound about the core will be inserted into the transparent body of the package and the bottom end of the package will be assembled as previously pointed out.

It is quite customary for me to make the bottom end walls I! of cardboard as this provides some advantage in attachment and is also inexpensive to produce. It also provides a Very good distinction between the two ends and provides an indication enabling the user to always set the display device upon proper position. In some cases it may be desirable to modify the shape of the opening IE, especially where the box is of an elongated shape which will enable the material to readily feed over the ends of the core such as at 33 when the first few convolutions of the material are Withdrawn.

The foregoing description is directed solely towards the construction illustrated, but I desire it to be understood that I reserve the privilege of resorting to all the mechanical changes to which the device is susceptible.

I claim:

A display package comprising a length of material to be displayed and having an irregular edge formation and wound in a single layer in a series of helical convolutions, one extending partially within the next succeeding one in telescoped relation, a tubular body of thin transparent sheet material open at both ends enveloping said coiled material and in contact therewith and provided at one of the marginal edges thereof with separate metal bendable fingers extending outwardly beyond the edge of said body at the said marginal edge and having a head portion thereof for securing the same to said body, a cap of opaque sheet material for closing the end of said body adjacent said marginal edge and having pairs of openings one of each pair at a location to register with said fingers and through which they pass, said fingers being bent over a portion of the outer bottom surface of said cap and then inwardly through the other opening of the said pairs of openings and bent to engage the inner bottom surface of said cap, said cap having a continuous flange embracing said body of a width to extend beyond and cover the head of said fingers to completely cover th same from view, and a cap for closing the other opening in said body fixedly secured to the marginal edges about the other opening and having a dispensing opening therein through which the material is to be withdrawn from the body.

JOHN T. WRIGHT. 

